Some shots of the soon to be released model of Class 150/2 (end gangwayed unit) No. 150236 which is fitted with sound decoder and speaker (32-939DS). Arriva Trains Wales livery is simple and sits well on these units.

The model is fitted out with ‘passenger’ figures which may be clearly seen through the flush glazed windows. Exterior fittings such as door control buttons and the door indicator lights are up-to-date, suitable for an Era 9 model. It is also equipped with directional lights and interior lights. The destination blinds read ‘Llandudno’ in one direction and ‘Chester’ in the other. Overall a good looking model, but then anyone who knows me will know I have a liking for the Class 150!

February beckons. For me that means that the difficult part of winter has been ploughed through successfully and as the days stretch out, the sun appears as it did today and I start to emerge from hibernation mode.

February sees the annual Model Rail exhibition in Glasgow and is invariably a weekend where I get back to my home city, even for a day and catch up with old friends in familiar territory.

Meantime, when I’ve not been at work over the last week or so I’ve been getting into my modelling again and when it’s not been cold, I’ve had a little dabble with the airbrush and weathering materials out in the kennel.

I’ve been gathering up the stacks of half done projects that have been building up over the last few years and making an honest effort to clear them now the psychological barrier of gauge conversion is…

It’s becoming a little too serious at the moment – I have to be careful not to become too involved! However, I really want to get this micro-layout finished and soon! Scenery in the form of shrubs, bushes and weeds has been added with a touch of Autumn colour. ‘Loch Dhu No.2’ has also received its nameplates together with a spot of touching up. Time to do some weathering of the stock ans the pug too.

I think the Autumn colours, representing early Autumn when leaves just begin to turn on small trees and bushes after the first frost in the glens. There’s more to do to this scene including some long dry grasses in places, a touch of yellow to the autumn colour and more matting down to kill the shine in the scenery material. Acrylic glues, which are perfect for scenery application, also tend to hold a dull shine which looks unrealistic. More soon!

One of the two distillery ‘pugs’ is prepared to receive its new nameplates. A quick check shows that the printed number plates on the Hornby Peckett W4 (base model is R3428 MSC No. 11) are pared back sufficiently to be covered by new custom etched plates by Narrow Planet. A quick clean up of the etched tags on the plates and they were ready to fit together with cab side works plates. The riveted boiler bands were also pared a little to allow the plates sit a little flatter to the model. The reality is that a hard used industrial loco like this would have probably had some backing material, probably wood, applied to such large plates to allow them to sit over the rivets. Some patch painting and weathering is next to further give the impression of a hard used loco. A close match to the Hornby paint is…Freightliner green! Should you wish to personalise your industrial steam or diesel locos, visit Narrow Planet’s custom name plate page here!

Details of how I squeezed a stay alive decoder and cap into this model can be read here…

After adding some debris in the distillery yard such as cask staves and rusty loops, matting down of all the surfaces was needed to remove the dull shine from acrylic paints before scenery could be completed. For that, I use Testors ‘Dullcote’ which removes 95% of the sheen. Some more stubborn areas need a little help with Tamiya matt varnish. After several very thin applications, the rails are carefully cleaned of varnish.

The same is dome to the hard pavements in the distillery itself, with the buildings removed. Once dry, the two low relief buildings such as the one at the end of the layout may be semi-permanently fitted in place with glue and the gap between the base of the building and pavement concealed with scenery material. Further weed planting and placing the pile of casks I have previously prepared will finish the scene.

Loch Dhu Distillery is nearing some state of completion apart from small details which may be added over time. Work on the rolling stock, to fit smaller ‘Spratt & Winkle’ couplings (TT gauge ones) and weathering will be completed over the next few months. I can finalise a couple of simple modifications to the exchange siding side of the layout at the same time (prompted by the acquisition of a rail bus) and that will be it for a while whilst I turn my attention back to my EM gauge Folkestone East layout.

Folkestone East is undergoing a little bit of a revolution where I am ridding myself of all EWS, EW&S and GBRf equipment and related stock to concentrate on the mid 1990s period where there was a significant transition period involving sectors, TOCs and of course the overlap between the opening of the Channel Tunnel and closure of the Dover train ferry service. This will provide a tighter focus on what stock I buy and build for the layout. 2018 will be a year of tighter focus for my modelling!

…and a little Dullcote will be needed to kill the slight shine from acrylic paints…

Small details are being added to the Loch Dhu Distillery buildings. They include a representation of yard lighting, wall braces and window bars for security. It is a distillery after all!
The revenue man’s office now has windows, doors and security bars. One door is ajar – a figure representing the head revenue man himself, the very model of taxation bureaucracy, surveying all that goes on around him, will be added looking out of the door. Will Angus MacGallbladder get his way and apply duty on the angel’s share?

There’s just room between the 12t vans and the building to get the doors open for unloading sacks of barley for the maltings. As the buildings are completed, the low relief ones will be fixed in place and the bases finished to blend them with the ground.

The yard will soon be filled with stored empty casks…

Progress has been made on the engine shed, a part relief building which just fits the distillery scene. Remember, the scene is barely 14 inches wide!

The buildings need a little more detail painting and some touch-up here and there before being sprayed with Dullcote together with the yard surface. Otherwise, they have come a treat after a long period of construction and painting. Loch Dhu Distillery, despite some ‘evolutionary’ changes to improve some of earlier work, is nearing completion. The exchange siding side of the layout is being revised slightly and the recent acquisition of a suitable railbus has encouraged the building of a small fiddle stick to complete the main line run – all 40 inches of it. A big layout indeed!

Welcome to OMWB (On My Work Bench). I will be blogging about my latest projects and other happenings in the world of model railways and my life in general.
Some non-railway subjects may creep in: the daily antics of our four cats, renewable energy, gardening, travel, life in the Scottish Highlands and many of the other things that make up the work bench of life.